MLB Player News

Manning pitched six scoreless innings in a no-decision against the Yankees on Thursday, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out four batters.

Manning cruised through the six frames on 81 pitches, preventing New York from putting on more than one runner in any inning. He departed with a 3-0 lead but was deprived of a victory when Alex Lange gave up three runs in the ninth. Manning has been on quite a roll lately, tossing three straight quality starts and yielding one or zero earned runs in four straight outings. Over that stretch, he's posted a minuscule 0.38 ERA and 0.68 WHIP despite a weak 10:6 K:BB over 23.2 frames.

Means (elbow) threw five scoreless innings while allowing only one hit and two walks to go along with six strikeouts in a rehab outing with Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday, MILB.com reports.

Means was excellent in his fifth rehab outing and turned in his longest outing. He hasn't pitched in a big-league game since early April of 2022, so the Orioles have rightfully been hesitant to commit to him in a starting role upon his return. Regardless of his usage, Means looks poised to help the big-league club across the final month of the season.

Stripling (back) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento on Friday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Stripling last pitched Aug. 16, so he isn't likely to need a lengthy rehab assignment. Assuming things go well, he could be activated in early September and is likely to immediately slot back into the rotation.

Buehler (elbow) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday, Matthew Moreno of DodgerBlue.com reports.

Buehler has been throwing to hitters at the Dodgers' training complex since early August, though he'll make a long-awaited step forward to rehab games. He's expected to throw one or two innings in his first appearance and will need to make at least three starts before being activated. That could line Buehler up for a return in mid-to-late September, barring setbacks.

Darvish was diagnosed Thursday with a bone spur in his right elbow and will be shut down temporarily, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

Darvish has not yet been ruled out for the remainder of the year, but that could certainly happen eventually given that the Padres are currently 7.5 games back of the third NL Wild Card spot. The veteran right-hander was placed on the 15-day injured list this past Monday with an initial diagnosis of elbow inflammation.

Wright (shoulder) tossed 1.2 innings and struck out one while allowing three runs on three hits and two walks in his rehab start Wednesday with Triple-A Gwinnett.

After allowing just one baserunner and recording four strikeouts over three innings in his first rehab outing Aug. 24 with High-A Rome, Wright took a step back in terms of performance while shifting his assignment to Atlanta's top minor-league affiliate. He spotted just 15 of his 31 offerings for strikes, throwing one wild pitch in addition to issuing the two free passes. The right-hander has been on the shelf since early May with a shoulder strain and will probably need at least two more rehab outings to get stretched back out before he's a viable option to rejoin the Atlanta rotation.

Liberatore (back) covered 3.2 innings and gave up five earned runs on four hits and five walks while striking out five in his rehab start Tuesday with Triple-A Memphis.

Though he didn't escape the fourth inning Tuesday, Liberatore still tossed 78 pitches (45 strikes) while taking the hill for the first time since landing on the 15-day injured list Aug. 22 with lower-back tightness. From a workload standpoint, Liberatore appears ready to re-enter the big-league rotation, but the Cardinals may want to see a more efficient outing in the minors from the young lefty before activating him.

Woodford (shoulder) struck out six and worked around two hits and one walk in 3.1 scoreless innings in his latest rehab appearance Tuesday with Triple-A Memphis.

Woodford had started in each of his previous four rehab outings, but he worked in relief behind Matthew Liberatore (back) on Tuesday. The right-hander still tossed 66 pitches (40 strikes) in the extended relief appearance, as the Cardinals appear to be entertaining the possibility of bringing Woodford back as a member of the rotation once he's reinstated from the 15-day injured list. Before landing on the IL in late June, Woodford had been working out of the bullpen, but the Cardinals could view him as an upgrade over some of their current back-end rotation options.

Wicks is scheduled to start the first game of Friday's doubleheader in Cincinnati, Tony Andracki of Marquee Sports Network reports.

As anticipated, Wicks will receive a second turn through the Cubs rotation after turning in a strong outing last weekend in Pittsburgh in his MLB debut. After allowing a leadoff home run to Ke'Bryan Hayes in his first career start, Wicks settled down and permitted just two more baserunners on the day while striking out nine over five innings en route to picking up the win. He'll draw a tougher assignment Friday while he faces off against the Reds at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park.

Nationals manager Dave Martinez confirmed Thursday that Gray will start Sunday's series finale against the Marlins, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.

Gray yielded four earned runs over just two innings (63 pitches) in his last rotation turn Monday against the Blue Jays, but Martinez said the 25-year-old looked sharp in his between-starts bullpen session Thursday afternoon in Washington. He'll stay on turn for now, though Gray might get a bit of extra rest at certain points down the stretch.